


welcome to the panic room

by wastelanderness



Category: Persona 5
Genre: F/M, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Mention of major character death, Nightmares, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-23
Updated: 2020-05-23
Packaged: 2021-03-02 17:06:56
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,072
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24330295
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wastelanderness/pseuds/wastelanderness
Summary: You hadn't had nightmares this bad since a nervous breakdown in college. Thankfully, the man in the bed next to you is there for you.[warning for light p5r 3rd semester spoilers]
Relationships: Maruki Takuto/Reader
Comments: 6
Kudos: 55





	welcome to the panic room

**Author's Note:**

> There's no Maruki/Reader fic yet on here so let's change that, shall we? Long story short, I finished my first playthrough of P5R a little while ago and HOO BOY THAT WAS A GOOD GAME. Maruki's entire character is so good and I can't gush about him enough he's just so so good and I have the biggest crush on him.
> 
> BTW, title of the fic comes from "Panic Room" by Au/Ra!! And, if you wanna follow me, find me on [tumblr](http://drmaruki.tumblr.com)!!

_Welcome to the panic room_   
_Where all your darkest fears are gonna  
Come for you_

It was a normal, everyday morning.

Sure, you couldn’t exactly remember anything before leaving the Aoyama-Itchōme metro station that morning, but you chalked it up to you still being a little sleepy.

You and your boyfriend of almost six months, a handsome doctor by the name of Takuto Maruki, were walking out of the station heading towards Shujin Academy as you had done a couple times a week for a while now. His position as a guidance counselor at the school and your position as a barista at a café only two blocks away (which, ironically, was where and how you met and feelings for each other blossomed) meant that you got to walk together in the mornings. But today, the walk felt... different. It was like the closer you got to the school, the more and more cold and distant Maruki became. He had been holding your hand tightly, running his thumb over yours, but, slowly, his grip on you loosened before letting go of you entirely. By the time you were at the front gate with him, he not only had shoved his hands into the pockets of his coat, but he looked downright furious at something. Suddenly, he turned and faced you.

"I can't do this anymore," Maruki ground out. "God, I don't even know what I saw in you in the first place."

The words that spilled from his mouth made your veins run cold. The world around you ground to a screeching halt. The din of the students in front of the school and the rumble of the train down the street was snuffed out. You opened your mouth to say something, but it was like you'd lost your voice. You tried screaming and nothing came out. Tears quickly welled up in your eyes as he continued speaking.

"And it's not just you. It's Rumi, too. She... she called me last night and told me she remembered me. After all this time, she remembered. I'm sorry, but I have to be with her. I was going to propose and now I really am going to before I lose this chance," he said. Maruki reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a black box about the size and shape that every stereotypical proposal ring came in. The doctor opened it up to peek at the ring inside and a golden light shone so brightly from inside the small box. As the tears spilled down your cheeks, you tried to beg him not to leave, but your voice still refused to come up. You tried reaching out to grab him, but you quickly realized your entire body was like it had been paralyzed.

"I have to do this," he murmured, just loud enough for you to hear slipping the ring box back into his jacket and walking through the front gate. And to make the sting even worse, before he left, he added, "By the way, I don't _ever_ want to see you again." And, just like that, as Maruki disappeared amongst a crowd of black and red uniforms, you felt your body slowly regaining feeling, the world resetting to its normal state alongside you.

"Takuto! _Takuto_!" you screamed. Despite your cries, he didn't even turn around. He was gone. Just like that, he had left you in the middle of the road to pick up the pieces of your shattered heart scattered on the asphault.

Then, the world shifted.

Instead of being in front of Shujin, this time, you found yourself on the train platform. You frantically looked around only to find a very confused-looking Takuto Maruki next to you.

"Darling? What's wrong?" he asked. You blinked a few times, your mind struggling to keep up. The train announcer let you know that, now, you were in Shibuya and the train you were supposed to be taking was approaching in just a couple minutes. A quick glance around you confirmed the train announcer's words - you recognized the slightly cramped train platform as a stop on the line that led you back towards just outside of Yongen-Jaya, where your apartment was located. Realizing Maruki was still staring at you with a concerned look on his face, you blushed deeply.

"Oh! Sorry!" you quickly apologized. "I was, ah, just thinking about something I should have done before leaving home. It's fine, though, it can wait. Sorry for worrying you." Maruki chuckled and squeezed the hand that was laced in yours tighter.

"It's alright, sweetheart," he said softly. "I just wanted to make sure you felt okay." You looked at his face and you could _feel_ the love he had for you radiating off of him. Seeing him look at you like you hung the the moon and the stars made you feel impossibly warm and it was just one of the reasons why you loved him so much. He had been nothing but kind and a wholesome gentleman to you and he made you feel so loved and wanted. Being snuggled in his arms made you feel like nothing could ever go wrong and you two would be happy together forever.

And that's when it happened.

He let go of your hand for just a second to reach into the bag he was carrying with him to Shujin. In the time it took him to finish pulling out his phone, a man screaming and shouting incomprehensible gibbering pushed Maruki in the direction of the train rails. You two had been standing several feet away from the edge of the platform like you were supposed to, but it was like the space between the edge and where you stood had shortened and before you knew it, Maruki was falling forward in slow motion right into the oncoming train.

The rumble of the train shook the station more than it ever had before, it felt more like an earthquake than anything. You reached out to grab him, but it was just a second too late.

"Darling? What's going on?"

Even now, his voice was mocking you. His words were spoken only to you yet they became amplified and echoed throughout the entire platform. The Maruki falling in front of you turned back to look at you, a look of absolute terror printed on his face as was just about to make contact with the speeding yellow train.

"Honey! Wake up!"

And, just like that, your eyes shot open and you found yourself no longer in the metro station. You sat up from your position lying down and looked around. It took you a couple of seconds, but you remembered you were in your bedroom in your apartment. The lamp on the nightstand to the left of your bed had been turned on and the digital clock next to it read that it was a little after four in the morning.

That's when you jerked your head to the right and remembered that Maruki was in bed with you.

You remembered ordering some ramen from the place down the street... and then you hung out and cuddled while watching some awful movie. The credits of the movie had started when you both realized that the last train home was just leaving the station ten minutes down the road. You had insisted he'd stayed the night instead of trying to hail a cab and he reluctantly agreed, especially due to the fact that this was going to be the first time you had spent the night together. You both had snuggled up in each other's arms and drifted to sleep, leaving you only the slightest bit frustrated that he hadn't tried to do anything risqué.

"What happened? You were tossing and turning and I woke up and heard you moaning my name and..." he said, a twinge of sleepiness in his voice. Before he could finish, you threw your arms around him and buried your face in his neck. Tears started to flow freely, your body wracked by sobs. He wrapped his arms around you tightly. He pressed you close to his chest as he ran a hand through your hair and down your back.

"I-I..." you got out between hiccups. "I d-dreamt that you... that you left me... and then I dreamt that you died r-right in fr-front of me and I... I can't ha-handle it. I do-don't wanna lose you." You had cried in front of Maruki due to your anxiety or your depression spiking before, but this time felt new, felt much more raw. This time, it was because you felt equal parts relieved that he was next to you and scared that the dull, axniety-fueled thoughts you'd been having ever since you started dating had become full-fledged nightmares. The fear of you losing him in an accident of some kind was minor, but the fear that he was going to leave you for someone, _anyone_ , had been taking up space in your brain since a few weeks after you started dating.

"Shh," he whispered in your ear, running his hand down your back. "I'm here, darling. I'm here and I'm not going anywhere, I swear to you."

He murmured your name in your ear along with words of assurance. The kind words meant more to you than you could even describe at the moment. It took a little while more for you to completely calm down, but Maruki held you through it all until the last of your sobs were gone and you had wiped all of the tears and snot from your face.

"If you want, I can go make a mug of tea for you?" he offered as he laced his fingers through one of yours, but you shook your head. "I think I left a bottle of apple juice in the fridge if you would like to finish that off, seriously, I don't mi-"

You had to giggle. He was such a dork sometimes, but it was a big part of why you fell in love with him in the first place.

"No, I'm fine, Tak, but thanks for offering."

You leaned in and gave him a chaste kiss. As you pulled away, he leaned back in and kissed you a little harder. His hand that wasn't holding yours snaked up and squeezed your chest gently. The touch caught you totally by surprise and you gasped, which made him take this opportunity to slip his tongue into your mouth. You cupped his jaw in your hands and felt the little bits of stubble that were growing in. You weren't sure how it was possible, but everything about Maruki felt soft and warm and wonderful to the touch. While he kissed away all of the dark thoughts in your mind, his hand eventually began to wander over your body. The touch felt good, so good you never wanted it to stop. But when his hand reached your inner thigh, just a hair's length away from groin, you pulled away.

"I - ah - as much as I'd _love_ to mess around now, babe," you said, looking from the clock back to him. "I think we should go back to bed. We have to be up in a few hours anyway to get to the train station and..."

"Oh! Yeah! God, I'm so sorry, I really wasn't thinking..." he said, the words tumbling out of his mouth. You glanced up from the random spot on your bed you had been absentmindedly staring at and were delighted to see that his cheeks were dusted pink with blush as well. You giggled and leaned in, kissing him sweetly.

"If you don't mind staying here tomorrow night, I think we could make something happen, though."

"I think I can arrange that, if that's the case."

Big smiles crossed both of your faces before you settled back down under the covers again, wrapped in each others arms.

You had had a couple partners in the past, but none of them compared to how safe and loved Maruki made you feel when he held you. He made you so incredibly happy as well and you couldn't have asked for a better boyfriend.

It didn't take long for sleep to overtake you once again, the long bout of crying and anxiety leftover from the dream having worn you out, and you eventually found yourself drifting off into a peaceful, nightmare-less sleep.

**Author's Note:**

> If you wanna see more, lemme know!! I made a collection just in case I wanna write more Maruki/Reader stuff because this is extremely self-indulgent and I don't care and I'd like to think that other people wanna see this too. Who knows... maybe I'll write some extremely self-indulgent smut. ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)


End file.
